Bianca's Blog

Innovation day was a great experience for me. I learned about the 6 simple machines;The lever, the pulley, the screw, the wedge, the inclined plane and the wheel and axle. I learned about woodworking, innovating and brainstorming. The task to build a sled and incorporate simple machines was very creative and fun. The sled that my partner and I made included the inclined plane, the screw and the wheel and axle. I also learned how to be more comfortable presenting with bullet points and the importance of practicing. My partner and I had que cards, but not a script. After practicing presenting a few times, we had a lot memorized and only had to glance at our cards a few times.

These were the materials to build our sled:

Next time I would search for cushioning to put on the seat of the sled to make it more comfortable and I would add a backing to lean on. I would also make the PVC pipes connecting the bottom of the sled to the skis shorter, so that the whole sled would be closer to the ground and therefore be more stable.

Overall, Innovation day taught me a lot and I hope to have more projects like this where you get to unleash your creativity and design thinking skills in the future.

 

In English, we are reading the novella Of Mice and Men. This book is about two migrant workers who work on a ranch. These workers, Lennie and George, hope to attain the ‘american dream’.

In this project, we were instructed to make a website for the ranch in the book, as if technology was a thing back then. In groups, we created a website using Google Sites. We named the ranch by putting all of the group members’ last names together.

Here is the website’s link:

https://sites.google.com/theojcs.ca/brandisbergetz-ranch/home?authuser=1

Hello! Today, I’m talking about the importance of goals.

Goals are important for many reasons. They can motivate you to do something that you’ve been planning on doing for a while, but you don’t think you’ll ever get around to it. I’ve thought of some things I want to accomplish and wrote them down here:

 

 

My S.M.A.R.T. goal is…	Two practical steps I can take to achieve this goal are…
Complete a unit of Duolingo in German in 2 weeks.	Do Duolingo for 5-10 minutes each night Practicing German
Read 2 chapters of a new chapter book in a week.	Read a little bit each day Read at home
Learn the F scale on piano in 2 days. Practice for a week.	Find the keys by using tricks I have in my piano book Practice for 5-10 min every night to do things like play the scale with both hands at a time
Add 5 things (like homework) to my agenda by next Friday, to be more organized and get into the habit of using it.	Make sure I know all of the homework and assignments that are due, or ask the teacher if I’m not sure Always have my agenda with me
Work on my D’var Torah for 30 minutes. My D’var Torah is November 9th. Challenges: TIME I have a lot of school work, homework, after school programs, etc.	Break it up: Work 10 min when I get home, work 10 min in the night, and then 10 min another day. Research, so I know exactly what to write, and give myself a timer when I’m working to motivate myself

Reading Hebrew more easily   I would like to read Hebrew faster, without pausing for every word and trying to sound it out.

To achieve this goal, I can practice more. I can read Hebrew books, even if I don’t understand every word.

Hello! It’s me, Bianca! Your favourite blogger😁!

In Jewish studies we were assigned a project. We needed to pick out 5 verses from Pirkei Avot and pick a song for each that relates to it:

 

TV-Billie Eilish

 

“And do not say “When I free myself of my concerns, I will study,” for perhaps you will never free yourself.” That last sentence is what I want to focus on. This means not procrastinating and not being in denial about your ‘concerns’. You should always try to find a solution to your problems, not rely on life to fix your problems for you. Waiting around is the worst thing to do. Take action, because you’ll be grateful that you did. You can’t turn away and ignore your problems forever.

 

“All of my friends are missing again. That’s what happens when you fall in love.You don’t have the time, you leave them all behind. You tell yourself it’s fine, you’re just in love(Eilish).” Though not all problems are centered around love, the same general idea is there. Billie waits for her problems to get better on their own, instead of facing the music and doing something about them.

 

Shake it off-Taylor Swift

 

“He also saw a skull floating upon the water. Said he to it: Because you drowned others, you were drowned; and those who drowned you, will themselves be drowned.” This means that two wrongs don’t make a right. Even though someone did something wrong, it doesn’t mean other people have to react the same way. Be the bigger person, and stand up for yourself, instead of doing something wrong back, just because they wronged you. Treat people the way you want to be treated.

 

“And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, Baby i’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, I shake it off (Swift).” This shows that acting back isn’t the answer. If haters hate, just ‘shake it off’. Reacting negatively in the same way can create even bigger problems than there were originally.

 

Applause-Lady Gaga

 

“Rabban Yochanan the son of Zakkai received the tradition from Hillel and Shammai. He would say: If you have learned much Torah, do not take credit for yourself—it is for this that you have been formed.” This means not taking credit for something you did, and that if you trained to be a righteous person, you should not focus on the fact that you put work into it, but on the fact that you are now a better and more educated person. If you only take credit, you are going against what you have learned. We were created with this expectation. 

 

“I live for the applause, applause, applause(Lady Gaga).” This shows that some people are very arrogant; instead of being humble and appreciating what they’ve learned/ done, sometimes people can brag, and they want all the attention on them. This is not a good habit. People will not want to listen and congratulate you if you’re basically doing it yourself.

 

Avril Lavigne-Complicated

 

Rabbi Joshua would say: An evil eye, the evil inclination, and the hatred of one’s fellows, drive a person (away) from the world. This explains that if you are mean and full of hate, people will not want to talk to you. Your evil inclination will drive them away and potentially stop them from seeing the rest of the good in the world.

 

“Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated? I see the way you’re acting like you’re somebody else, Gets me frustrated(Lavigne).” This is about how a lot of people are fake friends and act like someone else, when they are not. This can overpower the good parts of life, but no one else sees it because they are focused on the hate and bad in the world.

 

Rihanna-Umbrella

 

“And all your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven.” Again, I’d like to focus on this part.

All your mitzvahs, (acts of kindness) should not be done to make you look good, or any other selfish reasons. Mitzvahs should be done because it is the right thing to do. Even if no one is looking, doing mitzvahs is still the right choice. Doing a mitzvah for the glory and everyone’s reactions is not ethical. We do mitzvahs for fulfillment, kindness, and making the world a better place.

 

“When the sun shines, we’ll shine together, Told you I’ll be here forever. Said I’ll always be your friend, Took an oath, I’ma stick it out to the end(Rihanna).” This shows that you should actually put effort into your good deeds. Rihanna doesn’t do this for people to think she is a good person, but to be loyal to her friend.

 

Thank you for reading my blog!

Hello! It’s me, Bianca.

On Friday, it was the international Holocaust Remembrance day.

I read the story of Vladka Meed, a young Polish Holocaust survivor. Vladka was a member of the Jewish Resistance.

I read about Vladka on this site: https://echoesandreflections.org/podcast-for-students/

PDF of story

Why is it important to remeber the Holocaust every year?

It is important to remeber this event in history. Some people think it’s better to forget, But that is incorrect. So why do we remember? We remeber because it is important that history never repeats itself. If everyone forgets of the horrors that happened in World War 2, it can happen again. We have to stand up for our rights especially after learning what our culture went through.

What did I learn from the website?

I learned lots about Vladka Meed. It’s interesting for me to learn about other people’s expiriences. Vladka was brave enough to be part of a resistence, smuggling things in and out of her ghetto in Warsaw and helping children out. Vladka looked Polish and Christian enough, so she made a fake ID and was free to wander the streets. This inspired me to be brave. I’d want to help the Jews, my family,  in every way possible. This story made me think about what I’d do in Vladka’s time. Would I be strong and fierce enough to join the resistence? I think this would be great to teach to future generations: Stand up for yourself and for your loved ones.

Thank you for reading my blog post!

 

Hellooo!

A couple weeks ago, we got assigned a Jewish Values project. I did it with a partner, but you could also chose to do it alone.

With a partner, you had to chose 5 Jewish values(alone, you only had to do 3). The purpose of this project is to look at different Judaic concepts and learn from them. The values we chose were Avoiding Waste, Truth, Responsibility, Freedom and Respect. They are all important for multiple reasons. Avoiding waste is important for the planet. Truth is important to keep a friendship. Responsibility is good for trust. Everyone should have freedom. We should show respect to everyone; treat others how you want to be treated.

During this process, I learned how important Jewish Values were, and how examples can be found in so many Jewish texts, like this one, for Responsibility: “If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow.”

Our presentation:

 

 

אנחנו לומדים על הכנסת. הנה החוק שלי: ביום הראשון ללימודים, כל התלמידים היו מקשטים את החלק החיצוני של הלוקרים שלהם כך שיתאימו לאישיותם. זה יאפשר לכל התלמידים להיות יצירתיים, ליהנות ביום הראשון ללימודים, ולהיות מאושרים בכל פעם שהם רואים את הארונית שלהם!